If you’re already selling digital products, subscriptions, or event tickets, you probably don’t need convincing that the checkout experience matters. You’ve been through enough to know that seemingly "small things", like a lack of customization options or a change that requires a developer, can cost you time, effort, and revenue.
Every week, we speak with sellers who started on Stripe Checkout, Gumroad, or another marketplace-style platform. They hit a wall. They couldn’t customize the experience, run upsells, or easily create different pages for different campaigns.
Above all, they couldn’t build a branded experience that felt like them.
This checklist is for sellers like that: people already selling products who need a better sales flow, flexible, fully branded, conversion-optimized, and compliant out of the box.
We’ve put together this Checkout Page guide to highlight the key things to look for in your next hosted checkout platform, informed by countless conversations with real users who made the switch.
What is a hosted payment page?
A hosted payment page is a secure payment form provided by a third-party processor that businesses can use to accept online payments. While hosted payment pages are often associated with redirecting customers to an external page, they can also be embedded directly into your site, allowing customers to pay without leaving your checkout flow.
Already know the basics? Perfect.
To explore how hosted payment pages work and when to use them, read our article: What is a hosted payment page?
Why choose a hosted checkout page over a marketplace or DIY checkout?
If you’re exploring new checkout tools, you’re probably weighing a few options. Here’s what sellers tell us they miss when using Stripe Checkout or marketplace tools and why hosted checkout pages are a smarter option for long-term growth.
1. You own the experience
With a hosted checkout page, you control everything from the layout and branding to the product logic and post-checkout flow. Marketplaces often put their brand front and center, while Stripe Checkout offers minimal customization.
2. Higher conversions with less friction
Marketplaces distract your customers with other sellers and products. Stripe Checkout is secure and developer-friendly, but it isn’t built to guide customers through a persuasive, optimized buying journey.
3. More flexibility with pricing and payment options
Stripe Checkout limits you to fixed pricing models. Most marketplaces force you into their own. With a hosted solution, you can offer payment plans, subscriptions, trials, pay-what-you-want, and more.
4. Keep more of what you earn
Marketplaces usually charge higher fees, delay payouts, and sometimes bundle your revenue with theirs. With a hosted checkout that connects directly to your Stripe account, your revenue goes straight to you.
5. Better data and customer relationships
Marketplaces often limit your access to customer data; sometimes, you don’t even “own” your list. With a hosted page, you get complete visibility and can plug that data into your email platform, CRM, and analytics tools.
Who owns the transaction: merchant of record vs. your own business
One crucial detail many sellers overlook when choosing a checkout solution is who the Merchant of Record is.
If the platform is the merchant of record (as with Gumroad or Paddle), they handle tax, compliance, and transaction processing, but it also means:
- They are the legal seller, not you
- They control payouts, refunds, and chargebacks
- They can dictate pricing and terms
- You may lose access to detailed customer data.
This can be fine for some businesses, especially when determining potential in your offerings, but it often limits flexibility and ownership as you grow.
If you aim to build an authentic brand with long-term customer relationships and control over your revenue, you’ll likely want to retain legal ownership of them.
Pro tip: Read What is a Merchant of Record (MoR)? (And do I really need one?)
The hosted checkout page checklist
If you’re switching from a limited tool or choosing your first serious checkout solution, there are a few things you have to get right. Based on what we’ve seen from sellers moving over from other solutions, these essentials make a real difference.
This checklist covers the setup, branding, flexibility, and compliance features you’ll want to look for, not just to make your checkout page look good, but to make it work harder for your business.
Whether you’re selling digital products, event tickets, or subscriptions, you should check these boxes before you commit to your next platform.
Part 1. Setup essentials
The foundation of a great checkout experience starts with setup. You need flexibility, speed, and the freedom to build and test without hitting walls.
✅ Unlimited checkout, form, and event pages
You shouldn’t be limited to one page per product. Create as many as you need for sales funnels, different audiences, or A/B testing.
✅ Hosted, embedded, pop-up, and QR code options
Choose how you want your checkout to appear — as a standalone page, an embed on your site, a timed pop-up, or a QR code for in-person or offline sales.
✅ No-code setup with test payments
You shouldn’t need a developer just to launch. Build and preview your checkout flow with test payments before going live.
✅ Works with your existing tools
Ensure your checkout integrates with the platforms you already use, such as Stripe, Zapier, WordPress, Google Sheets, and more.
Part 2: Branding and customization
Your checkout should look and feel like your brand, not a third-party tool. A seamless, branded experience builds trust and boosts conversion.
✅ Your branding, not theirs
Add your logo, brand colors, favicon, and even custom CSS. And critically: no platform branding.
✅ Use your own domain
A custom domain adds professionalism and consistency. It keeps customers in your brand environment from start to finish.
✅ Support for multiple languages
If you sell globally, your checkout should speak your customers’ language.
✅ Flexible layout and field options
Whether selling a single product or collecting detailed info, choose what shows, how it looks, and when it appears.
Part 3: Flexible billing models and payment options
Your business will be limited if your checkout limits how you get paid. Look for tools that match your style of selling.
✅ More than just one-time payments
You should be able to sell subscriptions, offer payment plans, run trials, accept donations, or even let customers choose what to pay.
✅ Global-friendly payment methods
Accept card payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH, SEPA, Klarna, Cash App, and more — whatever your audience expects.
✅ Dynamic pricing and discount logic
Whether coupons, bulk discounts, or tiered pricing, your checkout should support flexible pricing without custom code.
✅ Digital product delivery
If you’re selling files, customers should get instant access and be able to manage downloads later via a secure portal.
Part 4: Conversion optimization
Your checkout should do more than process payments—it should help you sell more. Reducing friction and adding revenue-boosting features can have a big impact.
✅ Order bumps and one-click upsells
Let customers add related products or upgrades without re-entering their payment details.
✅ Minimal steps to purchase
The fewer fields and clicks required, the better. Multi-step checkouts can help simplify longer flows without overwhelming the customer.
✅ Custom thank you pages and redirects
Right after purchase, send customers to the next step in your funnel, like onboarding, a download, or a personalized message.
✅ Custom fields and logic
Ask the right questions at the right time. Personalize the experience with conditional logic, dropdowns, checkboxes, or hidden fields.
✅ Real-time inventory and variant management
Your checkout should reflect real-time availability if you sell variants or limited stock items.
Part 5: Compliance and security
Trust is everything at the point of purchase. Your checkout needs to meet industry standards and communicate key policies.
✅ PCI-compliant and SSL-secured
Security should be baked in, not a custom implementation. Look for platforms that meet PCI DSS standards and enforce HTTPS.
✅ GDPR and CCPA readiness
If you’re selling to customers in the EU or California, make sure your checkout handles data collection and consent appropriately.
✅ Accessible and mobile-friendly
To serve every customer, pages should load fast, work on all devices, and meet accessibility best practices (like WCAG compliance).
✅ Transparent policies
Display or link to your refund, privacy, and terms of service directly from the checkout page.
✅ Invoice generation and tax compliance
Customers expect clean, accurate receipts. Your platform should be able to generate invoices and offer tax calculation options, such as Stripe Tax.
Part 6: Analytics and integrations
Your checkout is a vital part of your marketing and growth engine. It should give you visibility, data, and the ability to connect with your stack.
✅ Built-in analytics and conversion tracking
See how your pages perform, with metrics like views, conversion rate, and revenue.
✅ Marketing pixel support
Add Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, Google Tag Manager, and custom tracking to understand and optimize performance.
✅ UTM and query parameter tracking
Track where your customers come from and pass data to your thank you pages or integrations.
✅ Integration with other tools
Sync new customers and sales with tools like Google Sheets, your CRM, email platform, or affiliate tracking via Zapier or webhooks.
Why choose Checkout Page as your hosted payment page provider?
Because Checkout Page has everything you need—no code required. Whether launching your first product or scaling a sales funnel, Checkout Page gives you the power to build fast, flexible, high-converting checkout experiences without a developer.
⚡ Speed matters: Our pages load in an average of 0.5 seconds—faster than Stripe Checkout—so you don’t lose customers to slow or clunky payment flows.
Here’s why sellers choose Checkout Page:
- Fully customizable without code: Edit layouts, branding, conditional logic, and more with a visual builder anyone can use.
- Hosted, embedded, pop-up, or QR-based: Use any format that fits your site or campaign.
- Stripe-connected, but more flexible: Keep full ownership of your Stripe account, data, and customer relationships, while unlocking features Stripe Checkout doesn’t support.
- Built-in revenue boosters: Add one-click upsells, order bumps, payment plans, and custom flows to increase AOV and conversions.
- Fast-loading and reliable: Our checkouts are lightweight and optimized for performance, with 0.5s average load times globally.
- Plug-and-play integrations: Connect with Google Sheets, Zapier, your CRM, and marketing tools.
Checkout Page is built for sellers who want control, speed, and results without writing code.
Final thoughts: Choose a checkout that works for you, not against you
If you’ve made it this far, one thing’s probably clear: your checkout shouldn’t be holding you back.
Many sellers come to us after struggling with rigid tools like Stripe Checkout or marketplace platforms that limit customization, take a significant cut, and leave them disconnected from their customers.
Stripe excels at what it was built for—processing payments securely, and at scale. But when it comes to optimizing the customer journey, personalization, or conversions, it wasn’t designed with those needs in mind.
A hosted checkout page puts you back in control of your brand, pricing, customer experience, and revenue.
If you’re looking for a platform that checks every box in this article, we built Checkout Page to do precisely that. It’s trusted by digital product sellers, event organizers, subscription businesses, and teams that want to move fast and sell without writing code or waiting on developer support.
Start building your checkout today with our 7-day free trial. No credit card required, cancel anytime.
